According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,877, an electrical connector assembly is provided wherein, wire connecting portions of the signal contacts appear at corresponding first openings of the housing block, the wire connecting portions of the ground bus appear at corresponding second openings of the housing block, and each of the signal contacts is insulated by the housing block to allow stacking of the signal contacts with other similar signal contacts insulated by a second housing block, whereby the first recited housing block and the second housing block combine to form a unitary electrical connector assembly.
Each of the first and second openings extends through opposite sides of the housing block to receive an opposed pair of welding electrodes for clamping therebetween a corresponding wire and a corresponding wire connecting portion. Each of the contacts is constructed for being detached from the ground bus by severing, whereby selected signal contacts are detached from the ground bus and at least one or more other selected signal contacts remain joined to the ground bus.
The connector assembly is constructed for ease of manufacture. For example, the contacts and the ground bus are joined together in a lead frame to eliminate separate parts. The housing block advantageously holds the contacts in desired positions when the contacts are connected to the wires. The contacts are held on pitch spacings that correspond to the pitch spacings of contact receiving cavities of an insulative housing. The contacts are assembled into the cavities of the housing as a group, rather than as individual contacts.